Seoul, Aug 20 (NationPress) A significant portion of midsized companies reported a downturn in operating profit during the first half of the year, reflecting ongoing economic uncertainties, as indicated by industry data released on Wednesday.

As per the findings from corporate tracker CEO Score, 500 listed midsized enterprises recorded a total operating profit of 6.34 trillion won (approximately $4.55 billion) in the January to June timeframe, marking a 4.1 percent decrease from 6.62 trillion won the previous year.

In contrast, sales experienced a 3.1 percent increase year-on-year, reaching 122.6 trillion won during the same period, according to reports from Yonhap news agency.

Among the 500 firms, 269, or 53.8 percent, experienced declines in operating profit, while 60 firms, or 12 percent, remained unprofitable.

The information technology (IT) and electronics sector faced the most severe downturn, with combined operating profit dropping 25 percent to 1 trillion won from 1.35 trillion won a year earlier.

The construction sector also faced challenges, with its combined operating profit plummeting 42.5 percent, equivalent to 222.3 billion won, from the previous year.

Conversely, the service sector achieved the highest growth, with operating profit soaring 30.7 percent year-on-year to 1.04 trillion won, up from 797.7 billion won.

“The IT and electronics sector has been significantly affected by decreased demand, largely due to U.S. tariffs,” stated an official from CEO Score, noting that a prolonged economic downturn has heavily impacted the profitability of midsized firms.

Meanwhile, major South Korean corporations, excluding chip giant SK hynix Inc., experienced a 1.7 percent decline in operating profit in the first half of the year compared to the previous year amid persistent economic challenges, according to industry data.

According to CEO Score, 342 of the nation's top 500 companies by sales that released their half-yearly reports reported a combined 1,655.3 trillion won in sales for the January to June period, reflecting a 5.5 percent increase from a year earlier.

Their overall operating profit rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to 118.5 trillion won.

However, when excluding SK hynix, which reported the highest operating profit of 16.7 trillion won for the period, the combined operating income of these firms fell 1.7 percent from the previous year.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics secured second place with an operating profit of 11.4 trillion won for the first half, down 33.4 percent from the previous year.

Hyundai Motor Co. reported 7.2 trillion won in operating profit, followed by Korea Electric Power Corp. with 5.9 trillion won and Kia Corp. with 5.8 trillion won.